Main Menu

Manes – Teeth, Toes & Other Trinkets [English/Polish]

ENG: I must admit that I’m extremely partial to Manes. Especially the later period of their activities, when they left the warm corner at Lucifer’s house and went creatively berserk, which resulted to such good releases as “Vilosophe”, “How The World Came To An End” and the sensational EP “[view]”. It was such a goddamn shame when they decided to put the band on hold, seemingly for good. But hey, the wolf may lose his teeth for a while, but never his nature. The new, completely fresh album is coming up soon, and as an aperitif the guys present “Teeth, Toes And Other Trinkets” , a collection of rare and unpublished songs, as well as several curiosities that they’ve gathered over the years.

No return to their black metal past here – these trinkets are the gift from the newer version of Manes. They give vent to their wilder lusts in another project called Manii – which by the way is pretty good – but not much extreme metal can be found on “Teeth …”. Actually, you won’t find it at all. This compilation is opened by a brand new song, “Blanket Of Ashes”, which heralds the new album in rather tasty manner. A pinch of trip-hop at the beginning, great vocals, perhaps a little referring to Bowie; in general a decent portion of dark rock underlined by electronics. “Ende” isn’t my favourite Manes track, so therefore its concert version the guys included on “Teeth…” doesn’t really create any particular impression on me. In contrast to the previously unreleased “Ease Yourself Back (Into Consciousness)”, with the synth parts reminiscent of raindrops flowing down the window. A dreamy, though in a sense desperate atmosphere.

“The Cure – All” remix is great. They put a stronger emphasis on electronics, and the final effect is not worse than the original version. It’s just a little bit shorter. Pity… “One More Room” is a variation of “White Devil Black Shroud”, catchy as hell, but a brilliant and sad piece from “Vilosophe” about love and other demons. Also, “Nobody Wants The Truth” is already known, this time from their last full-length album. Here we’re dealing with a pre-prod version of this composition. More spatial and introverted than the one that Manes ultimately put on “How The World Came To An End” . Delicate guitars and significant electronic passages. I like it. And then Manes morphs into Ulver serving “Tzolv” , which could easily be a part of “Perdition City ” or any of the EPs from that wolf era. Leisured, but somehow disturbing. Urban melancholy at its best. Empty streets, empty office spaces, night tram lines gliding in the distance, some couple having desperate sex in the gateway.

Further down the road we have two alternative versions of known compositions (“Transmigrant” and “Nodamnbrakes”). Both differ from the final versions so that it is worth to cock an ear. “Diving With Your Hands Bound [Nearly Flying]”, long and dirty trance, biting into the brain – it didn’t actually convince me after the first few listens (I love the “Vilosophe” version), but once I caught myself drifting somewhere in the unknown on these indefinite riff waves, accompanied by electronic rhythm loops and this guy whose vocals sound like he’s about to slit his wrists as soon as he finishes singing. Lest they finish the album in such a pessimistic mood, the musicians serve a small joke at the end: an 8bit version of “Deeprooted”. I want to play “Boulder Dash” again…

It’s difficult to compare “Teeth , Toes & Other Trinkets” with full-fledged publications of the band. “Vilosophe” and “How The World Came To An End” despite their undoubted eclecticism, were nonetheless highly consistent, constituted a single musical journey. And in this case we have this specific box of memories, out of which Manes again and again pulls another memento from the past – sometimes trinkets, sometimes little gems, but overall they don’t constitute a monolith. Yet it wasn’t a plan for the Norwegians, so I rate the disc absolutely positive – without doubt these gentlemen charmed us with few magical moments. I optimistically look forward to a new, full-length album.